The Trial of Mother Gothel
by bStormhands
Summary: My submission to the Tangled Big Bang story and art exhibit. What would happen if Gothel was captured at the end of the movie instead of killed. Art by Wolfram-and-Hart-Sauron.
1. Chapter 1 Battle At The Tower

- Battle At The Tower

"Rapunzel! Rapunzel, let down your hair!" Called Eugene.

Mother had just finished gagging Rapunzel who was just coming around after having been knocked out with the frying pan. Gothel paused, looking from the girl she called daughter to the window.

Rapunzel had a look of hope in her unfocused eyes. Eugene had come back. He could save her from Mother, the person who had stolen her from her real parents, who kept her here in the tower, who never wanted her to leave the tower, who had lied to her, who had said she loved her most, but didn't.

Mother considered for a moment, biting her lip, a pensive look on her face, then threw the hair out of the window and pulling out her knife faded into the shadows near the window.

Rapunzel had to find a way to warn him, she looked around for a way to get the gag off, but then she started sliding across the cool tile floor as Eugene's weight started to pull on her hair and her. She began to panic, she hadn't braced herself, there was no way for her to hold her hair. It hurt terribly when Mother stepped on her hair by accident, Mother was very careful not to step on the hair. Her eye's went wide toward Mother as they understood what was going to happen, Mother gasped.

Rapunzel tried to get on her knees, at least, but the dress got in the way. She lost her balance as she came to the end of the chain and her arms spun her around, Eugene's weight pulling her head forward. Her arms were pulled tight behind her as the chain anchored her to the pillar under the stairs, her shoulders strained as the weight of Eugene was on them.

Rapunzel's upper body was lifted off of the floor. Her own weight was now on her shoulders too since she hadn't even gotten to her knees, she was stretched out between the window and the pillar. The hair bent Rapunzel's head down, grinding her chin into her chest, as she took the full weight of Eugene on her neck and shoulders.

Eugene was climbing her hair to try and save her, but he was killing her!

Rapunzel was screaming her last breath into her gag as it felt like she was being ripped apart. She couldn't breathe from the tension on her neck and shoulders. She could feel the muscles and tendons in her neck and shoulders straining beyond the limit, tears shot from her eyes as the bones began to separate and the muscles to stretch and rip. Her bare feet slamming against the hard tile floor; the only thing she could do against the pain as she felt and heard popping sounds coming from within her own body.

"Please somebody, help me!" Rapunzel screamed in her own head, as black splotches appeared in her vision.

Then the pain began to ease, she could breathe again. "Mother's here, I have you." Mother was next to her, pulling on her hair and chain, supporting the weight. Mother did care.

"I thought I'd never see you again," said Eugene, as he climbed in the window.

Mother's hand dipped and the knife was at Rapunzel's throat. "No, you can't take my Flower away from me!" Gothel yelled.

Eugene didn't leave his crouch, but he opened his hands and made calming gestures, "It okay. I don't want your flower, I just want Rapunzel."

"She is my flower and neither of you can take it from me! It's mine and I have to protect it!"

"I'm sure you can find a way to protect it, if you tell me more about it." Eugene tried to sound calm, boring almost, taking a slow step closer, but the glass from the broken mirror crunched under his boot.

"Stay back!" Gothel yelled, dragging Rapunzel a step back, but the knife slid a little and a rivulet of blood began to run down Rapunzel's throat and between her breasts.

Eugene's eyes widened, and his arms go out, but he resisted the urge to dive for the knife.

"Stop! Please, stop! I can't hurt her, but I can't let you take her! I'll die without her! Please, stop!" Eugene stopped, he was beginning to realize that things were extremely dangerous. Gothel was screeching at the top of her lungs, sounding so scared, tears in her eyes and she was clutching Rapunzel close to her.

"Okay, okay. I'm staying." Eugene sat on the floor. "You want to protect Rapunzel. I want to protect Rapunzel. We agree on that, right?"

After a few moments, Gothel nodded, slowly.

"Rapunzel is special, and needs to be kept safe. I want her safe. You want her safe too, don't you?"

"You'd take her from me!" yelled Gothel.

"Where would I take her? I'm the most wanted man in the kingdom," said Eugene reasonably, trying to calm the situation.

Gothel's laugh was teetering on the edge of hysteria, "Oh, you're one to talk, they have your face plastered on most trees around here. Even more then me now. Which took some doing. I'm sure you've seen all the wanted posters."

Eugene was trying to figure out who she is. The only person with more wanted posters then him was the Kidnapper of the Lost Princess, but she was a old woman. Rapunzel's mother wasn't all that old. But Rapunzel's hair could heal, could it heal even old age? If she was the Kidnapper then that would mean that Blondie would be the Lost Princess, who had blonde hair, green eyes and just had her eighteenth birthday yesterday, just like...

Eugene's eye's go wide as he puts the pieces together.

"The posters don't do you justice," he acknowledged with a flourished bow as he was sitting on the floor.

"They only saw me as an old woman and it was dark. They never seem to get your nose right." Gothel commented slyly, waving the knife toward his nose.

Flynn rolled his eyes, "No kidding, you should have seen the one in the Snuggly Duckling. I looked like Pinocchio."

Gothel actually laughed out loud.

Rapunzel's head was swimming, nothing made sense anymore. What was Pinocchio? She hurt so much, it made her head swim, but she couldn't sing with the gag over her mouth. Moving any part of her upper body shot bolts of pain into her brain. Tears were running down her face from the pain, she could barely see.

Rapunzel was so scared and confused and she wasn't sure if she should fight or not, or even who to fight.

Mother had loved her, but had lied, Mother had saved her and now was hurting her, but holding her.

She had trusted Eugene, but he had left, trading her to those thugs and their sack. He came back, but he had almost killed her.

She thought she had been a girl with a special gift and now she was a princess. Her world was upside down and spinning like a top, there was no one to trust not even herself, because she didn't even know who she was anymore.

"You don't want to see Rapunzel hurt. Neither do I. But you're hurting her. You're cutting her throat. She's bleeding." He gestured to Rapunzel.

Gothel's eyes nearly bug out her of head as she sees the blood running down the front of her Flower. "What?! Flower gleam and glow..." The hair glows and heals Rapunzel. Eugene just sits and waits, with Rapunzel healed she should feel better, maybe even find a way to help.

Gothel noticed the bloody knife in her hand, the gag and chains on the girl she had tried to raise as her own. With a look of terrible pain on her face, she shook her head as she dropped the knife.

Gothel took the gag off of Rapunzel and said, "I'm sorry. I was trying to keep you safe. Well, the flower; your hair." Touching the hair gently.

"I guess I just can't do anything right. I lost everything else, I might as well lose this too. I'm sorry, Jon, I tried," she finished quietly to herself. Gothel pulled out the key from her bodice and unlocked the chains from around the wrists of the Lost Princess.

Rapunzel was so deeply confused. So much had happened in the past few minutes she wasn't sure what to do, but to go along. Mother had kidnapped her, but was letting her go. It actually felt like Mother loved her.

"So now what?" asked Eugene.

"Let me guess, the guards are after you and will be here soon." The Kidnapper of the Lost Princess asked the Thief of the Crown of the Lost Princess.

"Most likely."

"Let's go down and meet them."


	2. Chapter 2 Meeting the Guards

- Meeting the Guards

Rapunzel, Pascal, Eugene and Gothel in her cloak come out of the stairs behind the tower.

"Maximus, are you okay?" Asked Rapunzel, going over to the gallant steed.

Max shakes his head, he's exhausted from the all-out run he gave Flynn to save the good girl who was in front of him now.

"Here, I'll help." Rapunzel threw a loop of golden blonde hair over his neck and began to sing. Before the song was done he was feeling as strong as ever. That was very nice. He could run forever with her as his rider.

"That was so nice of you, dear. You're a good girl. You can run and play until the guards get here," said Gothel.

Rapunzel nodded, she didn't feel like doing any of the things she had done when she had left the first time. She just looked at the tower for a little while, it was so beautiful, she hadn't really looked at it the other times she was Outside.

Eugene put her paint box, books and doll down. Important things that she wanted to take with her to her new home. Mother had explained that they might be leaving the tower forever and that she might want a few of her things in her new home, her real home.

Soon the guards came pounding into the canyon. Rapunzel ran over the Mother, it was more then a little scary.

Gothel stood regally and called, "Welcome gentleman, I'm sure you know Flynn Rider." A couple of the men nodded as they steadied they crossbows at the most wanted man in the kingdom.

"This is Rapunzel, but you know her as Princess Solara, the Lost Princess." They all gaped at the princess, who waved nervously from behind Gothel. There were some happy looks exchanged among the guards.

Gothel took a deep breath to steady herself, "And I am Freiin Gothel von Ellwangen and I kidnapped her. I surrender."

Crossbows that had been aimed at Flynn suddenly were all pointing at her.

"Please, don't hurt her!" Rapunzel stepped in front of Mother to protect her.

The sergeant wasn't exactly sure what to do having captured the two most wanted criminals in the history of the kingdom and finding the Lost Princess all at the same time. He had the criminals chained and offered the princess a ride on Maximus.

"Do you have to chain them?" Asked the Lost Princess.

"Yes, I do, ma'am." He replied as they started the journey back to the kingdom.


	3. Chapter 3 The Test

- The Test

The heavy-set seneschal had been alerted to the coming of the party. The Testing Chamber had been provided with extra security. The Captain of the Guard was there as well as a couple of scribes to capture everything that was said, and quite a bit was said by all the parties.

But it was finally time for the test. The seneschal brought out the scissors.

"What are those for?" asked Rapunzel fearfully, as she caught the flash of the metal and heard sheering clash of the blades as the seneschal tested them.

"The test is very simple, I need a sample of your hair," said the seneschal in his deep voice.

"Mother!" Rapunzel ducked behind the kidnapper. The seneschal would have been amazed by this, but from what he had learned in the last few hours, it wasn't really a surprise.

"Please, isn't there some other way? Cutting the hair destroys the power in it," begged Gothel, holding the Princess Solara under her arms next to her chair.

The seneschal looked suspicious.

"When I snuck into the nursery I found that the power was in the hair of the baby, I cut a lock of hair to take just that. I didn't want to take the babe, but I needed the power to stay alive. I thought a piece would be enough but it wasn't it turned brown and the power faded. It was terrible but I just had to live, so I took her. I'm sorry. See here, the other end of the hair that I cut," Gothel revealed the brown lock under Rapunzel's hair.

The seneschal looked and brought the lock close to the brown lock, they looked the same. Gothel began the song, the hair glowed and then the lock in the vial jumped out and fused with the cut lock on the girl and it quickly grew to match the rest of the hair.

"I guess that would conclusively prove that she is the Lost Princess," quipped Flynn.

There were nods about that.

"Well then, I will take you to your parents. Come with me, your Highness," said the seneschal.

"But, Mother,... Eugene?" Asked the princess uncertainly as Mother's arms fell away. She wanted to meet her parents, but what would happen to Mother and Eugene?

"They will have to remain in custody for now, their crimes have been most serious." The seneschal was leading Rapunzel to the doors, but she ran back and stopped in front of Mother, biting her lip and bouncing on the balls of her feet. Gothel smiled sadly, opened her arms and they hug.

"I love you very much."

"I love you more."

"I love you most."

There was a gasp at that and Gothel winced.

The Lost Princess hugs Flynn Rider.

"You are my new dream."

"And you are mine."

A last look back at the door.

And then she is gone.


	4. Chapter 4 Waiting

- Waiting

The queen was sitting, looking like she was reading a book, but she wasn't.

There was another false princess being tested right now on the other side of the palace. After the seventh false princess she had given up on the embroidery, she had looked at it after they had gotten the head shake from the guard, it looked like the work of a drunken spider. She just couldn't concentrate, the fear and worry got in the way.

The past few days had been incredibly hard. The depression that came with the preparations of the Anniversary (there was no way to call it celebration) of the Lost Princess' birthday was awful. She knew in her heart that her baby still lived out there somewhere, she knew that! But if that feeling ever went away...

Then her baby's crown was stolen by Flynn Rider. She had been strong while they were told, they had seen the empty pedestal in the throne room. Her husband had shed a tear and had simply ordered the death of the perpetrators, by any means necessary, no questions asked, just bring back their heads. No one had argued. It was wrong to do that, but she hadn't cared either and hadn't checked her husband on that. She just wanted Flynn Rider dead, dead, dead!

She had gone to her private library and raged and screamed herself hoarse. She had eventually crumpled to the shattered-porcelain covered floor, hating Flynn Rider, hating the Kidnapper, hating herself for not being a good enough mother to protect her miracle baby. She had taken the vial with the Lock of Hair out of her bodice and held it close to her cheek, kissed it, the last evidence that her baby had existed and prayed that her baby was okay, was good and would come home soon.

It had been her daughter's eighteenth birthday yesterday and now another worry was that she would be a woman now and was she good? Could she have any influence on the life of her baby now that she is all grown up? She prayed all the time for her miracle daughter to come home and be a good person. If her baby wasn't good everything would fall apart, everything.

She flipped the pages of her leather-bound book regularly, but she couldn't see the words any more. That had left her after the eleventh false princess. She vaguely wondered what book it was she was supposed to be reading.

The agonizing hours of waiting took their toll. The wild mood swings from hope to despair were something she could not control. She rode them like a ship in a storm. Her husband, her love, nearby, was her anchor, but she knew he suffered too. By the fourth false princess they had stopped trying to talk to each other about their daughter, it was easier to just wait quietly.

They had tried waiting separately once, but she had devolved into screaming and weeping, somehow being together was easier, like two boats tied together are more stable.

She was glad that the maids always remembered the extra pillow after false princess days, she generally cried longer on nights after a false princess had been sent away, sleeping on a soggy pillow wasn't very nice, except in the worst of the summer heat.

Today was a nice day though, sunny but not too hot, the roses were nice this time of year. She wondered if there was flounder available, oil-poached flounder with herbs sounded nice for dinner, but she wasn't hungry. The theatre always did something special this time of year. Maybe a play to take their minds off of the false princess. She turned the blurry page.

A guard slid through the doors and nodded.

A nod.

The guard had nodded.

That was ...different.

It had always been a shake before.

Why would the guard nod?

They never gave a nod before.

A nod meant ...something, something important.

Her heart began to slam against her chest.

The queen stood and moved near the king, the book in her hands forgotten.

A nod would mean...

She looked at her husband and he at her and then back to the guard with the crossed white sashes.

A nod...

...would

mean...

The mother found herself running, alongside the father for the plaza balcony, as the guard dove out of the way, his fez flying.


	5. Chapter 5 Meeting the Parents

- Meeting The Parents

Rapunzel felt that finally meeting her parents was so strange. Standing all alone on the balcony overlooking the kingdom and the water. So much water. She could see so far, further then she had ever had before. Pascal was comforting her and she was worrying her long blonde hair piling it next to her. Her hands were shaking too much to have any success trying to braid it herself, like those little girls had, was it only yesterday?

She was going to meet her real parents! She thought she should be happy, why was she terrified? Why did she want to run back to Mother? Though she wasn't sure if she could find her by herself, there were so many twists and turns. She felt so lost and staying still was the only thing she could do, because she had no where she could go. She wasn't even sure which way the tower was from here.

The door creaked behind her and she turned. She saw two persons come through into the light. A woman with dark hair and big green eyes came down first. There were slow drifting steps to those eyes, the ones that stared back from her mirror, but this was no mirror, but the person who gave birth to her, who brought her into this world. Did she love her? All she could see was terror in those eyes, like she felt in herself right now. Was this real in the warm, bright sunshine?

There was warmth near her cheek and then a touch, the wonderful warmth of touch, and a smile that said this was really real. A breathe neither knew they were holding released and then closeness, a hug that encompassed her world. Then that other person was there too and she was completely surrounded by love, but it wasn't the same as the hugs Mother gave her, they were hugging her, really hugging her, and not just her hair.

"We love you so much," said the woman who was Rapunzel's real mother.

"I love you more."

"Come, let's go inside and sit and talk, there is so much to tell," said the person who Rapunzel understood to be her father.

Rapunzel bit her lip, it wasn't finished, and they didn't know.


	6. Chapter 6 The Complication

- The Complication

"Your Majesties, it appears that her claim to the barony of Ellwangen has some potential legitimacy," stated the seneschal, sitting across from the royal couple at a darkly stained wood conference table, putting down a very old leather bound book.

"What!?" They shout.

"That Barony was given in trust to the crown about 500 years ago," said the seneschal.

"I know that. We've managed that land as our own, it is fertile and productive, a good source of income. But how did she survive all those centuries?" asked the king.

"I don't know, but since the flower was able to heal the queen she must have used it to heal herself, somehow," shrugged the seneschal.

King Leonard thought about that, the flower had healed his wife, since Gothel had survived all those years she must have used it to heal her old age.

"So she really is a Baroness?" asked the king.

"Yes and in addition to that, the house of Ellwangen was placed as wards of the crown, she did it in her dotage as a prelude to her expected death. According to the notes the manor house burned down, there were no deaths but she was the last of that line. She released her chattel and came to the palace. That is done for nobles that have no children and want there to be no disputes over the land after their passing . She has provided the proper passphrases and identifications." He touched the heavy leather book he had put down on the table.

"She couldn't have read it from the book as you were looking?" asked the king.

"Please, sire, give me that much credit. I found the information before returning to her and even opened to the wrong page. She really is a Baroness and ward of the crown."

The queen gasps. "You mean to tell us that she is one of those children or elders we personally take care of as if they were our own. Even until they die."

"Uh, yes, your Majesty," the seneschal said quietly. "It is a rather convoluted and complex situation here."

"If you gentlemen would excuse me..." the queen rose and glided off, her voice tightly controlled.

"Of course, dear," said the king rising, and the other men rising as well.


	7. Chapter 7 Finding the Queen

- Finding the Queen

The king of Corona was looking for his wife. He was having a bit of a hard time dealing with the fact that the Kidnapper was one of their wards was ...distressing. Not that they knew her personally like the others, but it was the whole idea. They weren't their children, but they did try to love them as their own. It was a way to keep love alive in their own hearts after the terrible loss of their daughter.

He had had so many special tortures in mind for the kidnapper. Why did it feel like one of their children had kidnapped their daughter? The betrayal stung worse for some reason.

The king was wandering down the hall, his wife had not been in her sewing room as he had expected. He needed to talk this out with someone, but only his dear wife could understand the complexity of the situation. He saw a maid with crossed apron strings come into the hall carrying a pile of dishes.

"Angela, do you know where the queen is?" The king asked.

"Yes, sire. She is in her personal library. Shall I announce you?" Angela the maid, curtsying. She was going there herself, the queen needed more plates, and would be best to tell her the king was there, so the queen could pull herself together. The queen didn't like people knowing how she raged and didn't want the king to worry about her. She was one of the few maids privy to this information. This would allow Angela to protect them both.

They went together to the library and the maid knocked and announced herself and that the king was there as well. After a long moment the queen came out, but held the door closely behind her.

"Hello dear," the queen said.

The king saw the redness in those huge eyes of his dear wife and asked, "What particularly is wrong dear?" he asked as he pulled her into a hug.

"I am having a hard time getting over the fact that one of our wards stole our daughter. I love them like they were my own daughter and the betrayal hurts so much." Said the queen.

"Yes I know, I wanted to talk this out with you. She was the ward of my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, it's not like we knew her." Reminded the king.

"But I would have tried to love her and she betrayed everything we hoped to instill in our wards to steal our daughter." The queen put her arms around her husband.

It didn't make much sense, but this was an emotional issue. The queen had cared for so many: the wards, the widows, the orphans and pretty much anyone who needed help. The king knew his bride had some issues, but she was so full of love, hope and strength. She was his anchor in the terrible depression he fought all the time.

"I know," said the king.


	8. Chapter 8 The Judge

- Introducing the Judge

Getting the trial organized was a major challenge. While there had been plans to deal with the kidnapper when she was captured, and there were even plans that anticipated a criminal rescuing the Lost Princess. The sheer scale of having Flynn Rider, the second most wanted criminal in the kingdom and the Pubthugs from the Snuggly Duckling, put a strain on the system.

To keep the careful balance of justice and mercy Corona had developed over the centuries they needed to gather testimony and evidence and keep the accused apart so they couldn't adjust their stories to match, so the kingdom could weed out the liars.

So many details to attend to.

Then they had to find an impartial judge. Obviously, neither the king nor queen could not preside over the trial, being the victims. They had also expected the judges of the kingdom to recuse themselves as they have had to deal with the issues the kidnapping of the princess had made.

The University of Corona had an extensive law library and College of Law. Many kingdoms sent judges and lawyers to learn here to improve their own kingdoms. Most were not very familiar with Coronaian law, and so were unsuitable, but at present there was one who was knowledgable and willing.

A pygmy visiting from Africa, who had come to learn all about the renowned Coronaian law so as to build a better justice system for his king.

The victims of the crime, the royal family were in their designated place in the courtroom. Most of the courtroom was filled with the criminals: The Kidnapper of the Lost Princess, Flynn Rider, and the PubThugs from the Snuggly Duckling and plenty of guards.

The jury was seated as well. The judge had interviewed the potential jurors most carefully, with a pair of his visiting colleagues from the law school. There were enough new immigrants to Corona that they were able to find twelve that would be able to serve impartially, however he had made sure to remind them of the applicable laws to this case.

The large oak-paneled courtroom was called to order and all rose to honor the judge.

The judge, Ota Benga, resplendent in full traditional ceremonial garb, mounted the bench deeply carved with the kingdom's sigil, backed by a huge Coronaian sun banner, climbed the step stool to the raised seat provided to him to see over the heavy wood structure of the judge's bench, turned to the assemblage, nodded to the royals and smiled.

The princess went "Eek!" and dove behind her father. Judge Ota Benga had pointy teeth.

"Oh, please. Oh, please. He's going to cut my hair." Rapunzel was hugging her huge braid tightly and she was scared she didn't have her frying pan to defend herself with. Mother had said men with pointy teeth would come to cut her hair. She hadn't seen any so far, but now there was one right there in front of her and he seemed so important, even her parents had stood for him and they were royals and not supposed to bow to anyone.

The king and queen were holding their daughter between them not understanding what was wrong.

Gothel, who few had noticed was looking a bit older, was reaching out toward Rapunzel in her chains from her place behind a darkly carved banister, guards hauling her back to her chair.

"Rapunzel, please, it's okay! I...I lied. I didn't think there really were anyone with pointy teeth, it was just a lie to keep you in the tower. I'm sorry. I didn't want you scared of anything real. I guess I was wrong about the not being real part," said Gothel, ruefully.

The judge was standing there dumbfounded. Why would the princess be scared of him cutting her hair? He was a judge not a barber. Why would she be so afraid of a haircut? What kind of lie was that to tell a child to keep her in a tower?

This might be a more challenging trial then he had expected.


	9. Chapter 9 Hookhand

- Hookhand's Testimony

They brought Hookhand in to testify. He was the last of the PubThugs, as they called themselves, to testify. Given the large numbers of defendants they had simply gone in order from least to most wanted. There had been some grumbling in the prison over who was more wanted then whom, but that was besides the point.

"So how did you first meet Flynn Rider?" Asked the judge.

"That was a few years ago, he'd stop by the Pub to pawn off something he'd stolen. He was very smooth for one so young. I didn't really like him as he always seemed to think of himself as better than us. Holding himself away from us." Rumbled Hookhand.

"Really? And yet you broke into the royal prison to rescue him, not even offering resistance when you were captured." The official report and the testimony of the guards had made interesting reading.

"We weren't breaking him out because we liked him. We busted him out so he could go rescue the girl." Hookhand gestured to the princess with his chained stump. "We didn't even know she was the Lost Princess until you told us."

"You broke a man you didn't like out of the royal prison to save a girl, that wasn't special in any way," the judge summed up.

Hookhand barked a laugh. "Oh, she was special all right, but not because she was the Lost Princess, but because she had a dream and was going for it."

"A dream?"

"To see the floating lights, uh sky lanterns. She had captured Flynn and was making him be her guide to see them, she didn't even know where she was. She was pretty brave to have done that. Not like me." Hookhand finished sadly.

"Not like you?"

"I wanted to be a concert pianist, but you know, no one is going to take a student with only one hand," He waved his stump around vaguely. "I taught myself, I'm not great, but pretty good, I guess." He stole a glance at the princess and she was looking at him like he was better then 'pretty good'.

"When did you first meet the princess?" asked the judge.

"That was the day before the princess' celebration. She comes in with Flynn, who walked in like he owned the place. I hate people who do that. She was pretty cool though. She was scared, but she looked ready to take us on with her frying pan, that shows a lot of guts. Flynn was pretty dumb though, he didn't seem to have noticed how much his reward was upped to. We were going to take him in for the reward, but we got to squabbling amongst ourselves but she got my attention, and I started telling her about my dream."

"Got your attention?" Ota was suddenly curious.

"She, um, whacked me with a tree branch." Hookhand ducked his head.

Everyone looked at Rapunzel who smiled shyly and nodded.

"A tree branch?"

"It's not like it hurt, really." Hookhand shrugged. Rapunzel gaped as her braid slipped from her shocked hands; she had hit him as hard as she could.

"And then what happened."

"After all of us have confessed our dreams to her, including Flynn, the guards showed up and we helped them escape out the secret passage. Then the horse figured out the passage and he and the guards and the Stabbingtons took off. We didn't see them again until the next morning, well only the horse showed up. He said the girl was in trouble but didn't know where she was, but he knew that Flynn knew where she was. But Flynn was in the prison, so we had to bust him out by getting him up to the battlement where Max could jump to the neighboring building. Then we were captured."

The judge nodded. "Thank you for your testimony. You will be returned to your cell now."


	10. Chapter 10 Maximus

- Maximus' Testimony

Maximus was brought into the courtroom. The judge thought it odd to have a horse testify, but the princess, the Captain of the Guard, Flynn Rider and the PubThugs had all testified of how he had done incredible and important things.

But how to hear his testimony? And how to sort truth from lies?

Anything able to communicate can lie, the judge knew. Even a flower lied to get bees to come and pollenate them. But what of a horse?

The princess was able to communicate with animals, and while she seemed so very honest and had promised to not lie during the trial, he needed to make sure that the trial ran as fairly to all parties as possible. There were not a lot of people with good animal communications skills in the kingdom, and the kingdom was so very biased against the kidnapper.

Ota was so often left in wonder at just how much effort had gone into the conception and birth of the Lost Princess. Not just by the King and Queen and the medical team, but by the entire kingdom. He had talked with many people as he studied here in Corona and so many of them had a story to tell about their part in helping the queen have a child, finding the magic golden flower and the search for the Lost Princess. All that love for the royal family had turned to hatred aimed at the kidnapper.

The kidnapper was heavily guarded mainly for her own safety. What one or two might dare in the darkness of the night wouldn't be done when there were 20 about with bright torches.

This was also the most emotional charged trial he had ever been a part of. This was not what he had been expecting when he had come to Corona. He had come to Europa to study the legal systems because his king had wanted to improve things and lighten his load. His king had felt that too many people were bringing minor suites to the king to aggrandize themselves or annoy their enemy.

He had come to Corona to study and found it quite wise in its legal construction. The government, the victim and the accused all had certain rights that needed to be abided by, and it had been carefully balanced over a long period of time so no one party dominated. Most trials concluded will all parties agreeing that justice and mercy had been served.

He was hoping that he could let that happen here in this trial.

The judge had spent some time with Maximus trying to get to know him. Maximus was very smart and quite articulate for a horse, so he was thinking that he could question him in front of the court and to make sure had placed three citizens in the courtroom whose job it was to write down their interpretations of what Max had communicated.

So Maximus told of his chase of Flynn Rider and the Stabbington brothers. His battle with Flynn over the satchel. Then the search that lead him to his encounter with Gothel and eventually the Snuggly Ducking and the dam. Finally finding Flynn Rider and the girl. The girl had talked to him and understood him and he helped her enjoy her birthday, but kept Flynn Rider in sight all the time, except when they went on the little boat.

But Flynn had come back alone and was captured, he searched for the girl but only found the Stabbington brothers. He needed to find the girl, she had vanished into the forest something was wrong, he needed Flynn to find the girl but no one would listen in the stable so he had to go to the Snuggly Duckling to get the men he needed to get Flynn out and take him to the girl. Finally the guard had followed and found them all at the tower.

It felt odd to the judge to thank a horse for his testimony.


	11. Chapter 11 Stabbington Brothers

- The Stabbington brother's testimony

"The two of you and Flynn Rider stole the Tiara of the Lost Princess," asked the judge of the two Stabbington brothers. The one didn't seem able to speak so they were brought in together.

"Yeah. It was his idea. He needed us to do the muscle work. Drop him down and pull him up again. He ditched us and left us to the guards in a little box canyon," said Lance.

The judge nodded, he had heard the reports from the guards.

"Had you known him long?" asked the judge.

They shrugged, "A few weeks, though we had bumped into each other from time to time, but mostly only knew each other from reputation. Flynn was more of a loner."

"Why did you join up with Gothel?"

"She offered something worth more then a thousand crowns, but the clincher was we could take our revenge on Flynn Rider. He double crossed us too often to let slide. He took the crown and left us for the guards, then got away again at the dam. Then he tries to give us the crown so he could take off with the girl with the magic hair. She is worth far more then any old crown."

"So, you thought to kidnap the Lost Princess?" asked the judge.

Lance and Dirk traded a look, but Lance said, "We didn't know she was the Lost Princess. She was just a girl with magic hair. We saw her magic Flynn's hand. It was pretty obvious that what she could do was very valuable. Magic artifacts are very valuable. Magic beings even more so, if they don't blast you. But since the girl didn't attack the old lady, we figured she wasn't all that dangerous. We could get the magic girl, take care of the old lady and get plenty of money."

"You were going to sell a magical being into slavery, just for the money."

"We gotta eat too." They shrugged together.

"But you'd get a lot more then just eating money," said Ota as he leaned back and peaked his short fingers in front of him.

The Stabbington brothers could only shrug, but they were beginning to sweat this was not a good kingdom to be accused of kidnapping in. About the only good thing was, they hadn't been successful at all. Attempted kidnapping was not nearly as bad.

The judge knew that the black market trade in magical artifacts was very high stakes. Most magical beings were either strong enough to defend themselves like fairies, unicorns and dragons or would live in large enough groups to hold off attackers, like gnomes and pixies. As a magical being the princess seemed powerful, yet quite defenseless, she would indeed be seen as very valuable.

"So, who were you going to sell her too?"

The brothers exchange a look.

"I'll ...consider a reduction in your sentence for that information." Finding a dealer in illicit magical entities and artifacts would be very valuable. The magical black market was one of the most violent and heartless in the world. Many people have been killed because they were rumored to have an artifact or ability. Many forests were destroyed in the search for magic.

Another look.

"We don't know his real name, but he goes by The Mustache, he's based in Ulm."

"Very good. I'll see what can be done for you."

(A/N: I can hear the plot bunnies getting it on. Anyone want to run with them? Be my guest.)


	12. Chapter 12 Flynn Rider

- Flynn Rider's testimony

Flynn Rider was brought in, as he sat down and looks over the court a gaggle of girls in the visitor section start screaming and jumping up and down. The judge banged for order with his gavel, but no one can hear over the din.

Flynn takes action, he shoots a smolder at a couple of the noisiest ones, who go down in a swoon.

One girl in a tight pink corset jumps up on a chair, waves her arms and screams "Flynn Ride Me!" He blows her a kiss with a wink, hoping someone will catch her as she goes down backwards over the chairs into the crowd behind them. Soon the guards move in and carry the fainted girls out.

Once it was quiet the judge asks, "Does that happen often?"

Eugene looked at the royal box, the king was definitely grumpy looking, his little girl had been talking about Eugene rather a lot, looked embarrassed and nodded saying, "Usually it's not that bad, but I've been out of circulation for a while and the tension must be building up. It should dissipate in a few weeks."

The judge just looked at him for a while. Eugene blushed.

"So why did you steal the crown?"

"I wanted a big pile of money and an island to live alone on."

"That's all?"

"Well, there was the challenge of it. Could I steal the kingdom's most valuable treasure?"

"You know why it is the most valuable treasure in the kingdom, don't you?" the judge asked.

Eugene looked at the royal family. "Yes. I'm sure there are treasures in this kingdom that would fetch more on the black market, but that wasn't the point. It was the most valuable therefore I had to try to steal it. The Stabbington Brothers are good muscle, but not exactly bright. I needed them to get me down to the crown and back up, but I was planning on ditching them in any case. They even helped me do that. We ended up in a little box canyon and they gave me a boost, they thought they were being smart by demanding the satchel first, but I am a master thief. I had no trouble at all of relieving them of the satchel."

"The guards split up to chase me and capture them. With the guards after me I had to run. They were really serious, they were shooting at me. I was diving through trees and bushes to get away. Most of them got hung up in a low tree, but the Captain and Max were still hot on my tail, I was able to pull a Tarzan and knock him off of Max, but Max is a lot smarter then your average horse and we started fighting, and ended up going over the side of a cliff, I hid and stumbled into a cave that lead to a small canyon with a beautiful tower in it. It looked like a great hiding place, but there were no doors at the bottom so I climbed it and got knocked out by Blon- um, Princess Rapunzel."

"She knocked you out?"

"Yes, a few times with the fro- um, her chameleon sticking his tongue in my ear to wake me up."

Several people shiver at the thought of that, but Pascal looks pleased with himself.

"She had tied me to a chair with her hair. Then she proposed a deal, I would get the satchel back if I took her to see the lantern thing they do for the princess, that was happening the next evening. I was in a bind, but she seemed earnest about the whole thing. So I took the deal, it seemed easy enough."

Flynn rolled his eyes.

"She was afraid of grass when she came down from the tower. Which was weird enough, but then she proceeded to flip out on me. She'd be as excited as a kid on the first warm day of spring after a long cold winter then flip around saying how despicable she was for being a disobedient daughter. She went on like that for over an hour. I was getting a little fed up with it. It was going to take forever to get to the kingdom if she was crying all the time."

"We were almost attacked by a bunny rabbit and I found that she's afraid of ruffians and thugs so I took her to the Snuggly Duckling to scare her back to the tower so I could have my satchel back. They tried to take me for the reward, which had gotten quite the boost, almost enough to be tempting to turn myself in for." Flynn gave a respectful nod to the king.

"But she charmed them all by just asking them if they had a dream, and they all do. They helped us escape from the guards. We got to the dam but were surrounded again and she swings away while I fought the guards and Max with a frying pan. She grabs me with her hair and swings me away and over the Stabbington brothers. Then Max broke a support beam to get to her, but I held her hair and she was able to swing away, but then the dam broke and we were all running from the water. We eventually got clear and ended up making camp not far from the kingdom."

"I had cut my hand in all that and she healed it with her hair. I had thought she was just a goofy girl who didn't get out much, but now obviously she was some kind of witch or maybe even magical being but then she said she had never left that tower." Eugene shook his had at that.

"She was so kind and good, she liked my real name, I decided that I needed to show her as good a time as I could. I'm an orphan and had missed so much of being with a family, but to have stayed in that tower, which wasn't all that big, was terrible, even if she did have family there, but she wanted to go back. She said she didn't want to at first, but her emotions were a little out of control, though not like when we first left. I could tell she intended to go back, because she is that good inside, which was touching, she loved her ...the person she thought of as her mother." Eugene flicked a look at the royal family, he didn't want to hurt them with calling Gothel-mother.

"We got to the kingdom and spent the day avoiding guards and showing her around. I took her out on a little boat so she would have the best possible view of the lanterns. I have been tempted to take her to the plaza so she could see it up close but the view from the water was better and no guards."

"Then I saw the Stabbington Brothers on the shore. I tried to give them the crown so they would leave us alone, but they knew about the girl and knocked me out. Then the PubThugs broke me out of the prison and Max took me to the girl. I found Gothel holding her hostage and she gave herself up to me and then we were captured by the guards."


	13. Chapter 13 Gothel

- Gothel's Testimony

They brought in the kidnapper. Gothel was dressed in a plain grey prison dress. Chains ran from heavy iron collar to the iron belt around her waist to iron shackles on her wrists and ankles. Four guards surround her each holding an end of chain.

But it looks like it's too heavy for the old woman trudging into the courtroom, with her gray hair and sunken eyes and terrible air of depression.

"Oh, Mother," said Rapunzel into the quiet chamber. She was sitting beside her real mother and father. It had taken days to hear the testimonies of all the guards, Pubthugs and others. But the defendant looked to have aged decades in the meantime.

"Mama, Papa, may I heal her, please?" Rapunzel asked. Seeing Mother so old was disturbing.

The king and queen looked at each other, this was unexpected and a problem if she died before the trial could run its course. She now looked like the old woman that had stolen their baby. The queen's face was stony, but the king nodded.

Rapunzel walked over to Gothel, knelt and placed her braid in Mother's lap and sang. There was a gasp as the hair glowed and the kidnapper became young again.

"Thank you, dear. You're such a good girl," said Gothel quietly.

"Thank you, Mother," replied Rapunzel. There was a hiss of breath from the queen.

Rapunzel walked meekly back and sat next to her real mother.

After bring order to the court again, the judge asked, "Freiin Gothel Von Ellwangen, you are charged with the kidnapping of the Princess Solara. How do you plead?"

Gothel stood. "I took back my Flower that they stole. So, yes, guilty."

The judge looked to the King, who rose and said, "The people of the kingdom heard that there was a magic golden flower somewhere in the forest on the coast. They found it. It was given to us, it was turned into a tea for the queen to drink. She was pregnant and desperately ill. The tea cured the queen."

"They didn't even ask. They just dug it up and took it. It had been keeping me alive for centuries," stated Gothel.

The judge frowned, he was familiar with Coronaian law, but it looked like there were several legal breaches going on here.

"The flower was taken from your lands, without recompense. You stole the Princess Solara to retain your immortality."

"How do you put a price on my life?" asked Gothel. The judge nodded about that.

"But it is illegal to deny a pregnant woman needed foods," said the judge.

"She didn't need to eat the flower to be healed," stated Gothel, "that's how I stayed alive so long. As you saw when Rapunzel healed me."

"Why would you do something as awful as kidnapping a child?" Asked the judge focusing on the primary matter.

"I didn't want to, I tried to take just a little bit, a lock of hair, but it turned brown, the power faded and I was old again. I had to take her, be-because I promised to wait." said Gothel very quietly.

"What? Louder please."

"Because I promised to wait for Jonathan, my beloved." Gothel said straightening and more loudly, but not looking at anyone.

Rapunzel's eyes went wide and gasped, Mother had made a promise and she was trying to keep it like she had taught her to do.

"To wait for a man."

"Yes, but I promised and I don't break my promises." Gothel pleaded.

"You're Honor," said Eugene standing, "One thing that Rapunzel told me when she captured me was that she never breaks her promises and Pascal confirmed it."

The judge turned to the princess. "So princess, do you ever break your promises?"

Rapunzel stood, "No, your honor. I never break my promises, Mother taught me that. I loved her and tried to live up to that."

The judge considered that for a moment.

"What happened?" Asked the judge.

"I was the youngest daughter of a large family. We weren't important enough for much of anything, but we owned the land we had. There were no real political connections our family cared about. We were too small to be of interest and large enough to be comfortable. Jonathan was a stable hand, and he loved me. I ignored him for the longest time, but then I started to notice he was always there for me, like when my cat died. She was so kind and beautiful. She was black with white muzzle, bib and socks. He comforted me after we buried her."

Gothel sighed in regret, so many things she couldn't remember anymore, but she still remembered her cat, Tallstar.

"I was the youngest daughter of a baron. He was just a hired hand. He helped around the manor doing stable work, fixing things, helping. He was always around it seemed like, it was annoying most of the time. I would torment him badly by sending him on pointless errands. But he would always say "No problem, m'lady." Gothel got misty-eyed as she remember that.

"Then, eventually, I realized that he said it to me differently from the others. It wasn't long after my sixteenth birthday. I was in the kitchen making vegetable stew, I asked him to fetch me some water, and he looked at me and said "No problem, m'lady," and I found myself blushing, the words he used were ordinary, but they meant something totally different now. I could just stand there and then he brought the bucket of water and put it on the table. I couldn't do anything but look at him and I wanted him to stay so much. I asked for a bowl from high on the shelf and he looked at me and said those words again and my insides melted completely, my heart was so warm like the sun flaring inside me." The chains around her wrists clanked as she put her hands near her heart.

"He wasn't saying the words he was saying; he was telling me, he loved me."

Then the stew boiled over and he was gone. I saw him later, he was there and his arms were around me, I could barely think straight, but he was holding me. He was going to leave, to get on a ship and to seek his fortune. He was going to come back he promised. I didn't want him to leave. I finally knew what he was telling me."

"He told me he loved me very much, I said I loved him more, and he said he loved me most, and I knew in my heart that was true."

Rapunzel was weeping.

"Then we kissed. It was the most amazing kiss ever, I felt it all the way down to my toes. We really loved each other, it was true, wasn't it?"

"We had true love, didn't we?"

"He'll come for me, won't he?"

"True love always finds a way, doesn't it?"

"Somehow?"

Gothel looks around and sees nothing but pity.

Tears begin to run down her face.

"He's never coming back, is he?" Gothel says quietly. The pity she sees in everyone's faces is terrible. She begins to sob and misses her chair as the full realization of that takes her. The queen is holding onto her husband so tightly weeping into his chest, Rapunzel gets up and takes Gothel in her arms as she continues to sob.

"Please, just kill me. I can't let go myself anymore. Make it stop, please." Gothel begs.

The judge calls a recess.


	14. Chapter 14 Rapunzel

- Rapunzel says a few words

"Princess Solara, also known as Rapunzel. Come forward please," stated the judge.

Rapunzel looked around and then got up and walked to stand in front of the judge. Today she had her braid changed slightly, she still had the big braid down her back but there were now a couple of smaller braids that hung down her sides that she could worry. It was easier to think now that she had figured out that she liked to worry her hair while thinking.

"Yes."

"What happened to you as you lived in the tower?"

"Not much, really. I cleaned the tower. I cooked the food. I painted the walls. I read my books. I played my guitar and my lute. I spun thread to made cloth. I made dresses for Mother, myself and Pascal."

Pascal rolled his eyes in opposite directions on her shoulder. He didn't really like playing dress up, but there wasn't much else to do.

"Pascal and I would play games, chess, hide and seek, puzzles and more. While I spent most of the day alone; at night Mother would teach me songs, play so I could dance, tell me stories, talk to me about plants, and tell me about how awful the world was."

"I kept wishing my life would begin and now it has, but I rather liked the quiet of the tower, there was time to think and understand things. Everything here moves so fast and there is so little time to really think about things."

The judge considered that for a moment. "Was Gothel good to you?"

Rapunzel bit her lip, she had promised to be honest for the trial. "I always thought so, but I didn't have anything to compare it too, though. She would punish me when I was bad, make me feel not strong enough to leave the tower, but she told me she loved me most and that felt good."

"She told the Stabbington brothers about me, and saved me from them, too. She really did save me from Eugene, he was climbing my hair and I wasn't ready and he was ripping me apart, but she pulled on my hair and the chain and took as much of the weight herself as she could."

"I hated her when I realized who I was. It hurt so much to know who I was and that she had stolen me and that she had betrayed me so deeply, because I loved her and I thought she loved me. I had wanted to go back to the tower to heal Mother and keep her young and healthy."

"I thought she didn't really love me, but now I know she does, because she let me come home. I still love her, too."

"Anything else you would like to add. Thank you, princess. You may be seated." The judge said as the princess shook her head.


	15. Chapter 15 The Queen

- The Queen Testifies

The judge invited the queen to speak as she was one of the victims of the crime and her point of view needed to be heard as well.

The queen stood in front of Gothel sitting in her chains before the court, but there was no court for the mother, there was just the person who took her baby. The queen stood with her arms crossed in front of her, then on her hips, trying to figure out how to express what she had felt all these years, finally she just had her arms by her sides and her fists balled up.

"I hate you."

Three simple words, spoken quietly, but with great force directed at the woman in front of her. Gothel shrunk back, she knew the queen hated her with everything she had and the passion behind those words frightened her more then anything ever had. Gothel's insides clenched, her bowels felt weak, and the hair on her head tried to fluff as goosebumps ran all over her body.

"When I was young I had thought getting pregnant would be easy, but it didn't turn out that way. After a few years it was starting to become an issue. We called in midwives and doctors and witches to see if something could be done. I was poked and prodded. I drank vile potions. I read everything I could find. I lost baby after baby to miscarriage, seven sons and six daughters. Each time I became pregnant I was restricted more and more. I gave up on all my dreams I wanted to accomplish for the sake of the kingdom. Something was wrong with me, and I spent hours praying every day for an heir for this wonderful, amazing kingdom that loved us so much. The wonderful people in this fine kingdom would pray with me and for me always when I was pregnant. They would take shifts through the night so always someone prayed for me and the baby." She looked to the visitors and nodded her thanks to them. They all nodded back.

Rapunzel's real mother turned to look with loving eyes at her daughter, and walked over to her.

"Finally, I had carried my daughter longer then I ever had before. I had lain in that bed for months and somehow now I was sick and dying. I knew that even if the doctors wouldn't tell me, but there was a fairy tale of a magic golden flower that could heal anything, and out of their love for me they went out and found it. They actually found it. I was almost too weak to drink it, but I did and a miracle saved us."

The mother swept back across the courtroom to stand in front of Gothel.

"I wept for joy as I held her in my arms and she was big and pink and alive, unlike all the others. I sang songs of love and exultation to her as she suckled. I kissed her all the time. I cried for joy all the time. I did everything with her because she was my miracle baby and I loved her with my whole heart, my whole being. The only time she was out of my arms was when she was asleep in her crib and that was in the same room with me, because I wanted her safe always."

"AND I WATCHED YOU STEAL HER FROM ME!"

The mother had lunged at the kidnapper and was leaning over the railing screaming those words into Gothel's face. Gothel saw the bared teeth, felt the warm breath of this mother on her lips and the terrible, unbearable hate and pain in those eyes just inches from her own. Gothel threw herself back as far as she could, slamming her head into the back of the chair, but chained to the heavy chair, she couldn't go very far. Gothel knew fear all the way to the soles of her feet, that the queen wanted to hurt her as terribly as possible.

Guards came forward to protect Gothel as it was their duty to do. But now they were just protecting a woman from an enraged mother, and not the most wanted criminal ever from the queen.

"Everyone searched, but she was gone. The only dream I had left had been stolen from me by you. That almost destroyed me. I wailed out my soul beside her empty crib. There were no more miracles left. The love of my husband and subjects barely kept me sane."

"I poured my hate into what I would do to you if we ever caught you. I want to kill you myself!"

"I poured my love into the the orphanage and the schools, so that there might be some hope of someone finding her someday. The last bit of hope was to send up the sky lanterns so the kingdom might have hope of her return, because I knew in my heart she still lived somewhere."

"And she did, not even all that far from us." The queen gave a rueful laugh.

"You are the ward of the crown. I care for them as if they were my own, because you stole my own from me. That hurts so much on top of everything else." The queen shook her head.

"I've been getting to know my own daughter since she came home, sometimes the things she tells me of what you did to her to keep her in the tower makes me ...angry. But I have also come to realize just what a good and wonderful person she is. You taught her to read, to make music and be deeply creative in so many amazing ways."

Rapunzel's real mother moved to stand in front of her beloved daughter.

"You are a good person, a really, honestly good person, who loves and lives with your whole heart. And I love you."

Rapunzel had tears in her eyes, the love showing so easily now.

The queen turned back to Gothel. "My daughter is home and good. Which is all I really wanted. It is what I dreamed of and prayed for; all these years. For that, I am most thankful. My dream has come true. My prayers have indeed been answered and because of that ...I can forgive you." The queen's lip quivered as she came to know what she was saying really meant.

A gasp ran through the courtroom.

The king looked beyond shocked.

Rapunzel was hugging her braid.

The judge leaned back.

Gothel's mouth dropped open. It was an impossible thought. Gothel knew to her bones that the queen hated her with everything she had. The question was in her eyes. Could she have heard what she thought she heard?

Tears were leaking down the mother's face as she nodded, she hadn't really been thinking of what to say, but knew that it had been the right thing to say, the warmth around her heart told her so. "Yes Gothel, I forgive you, because I love my daughter and I know that she is good because of you."

Gothel wasn't sure how to react. She had never expected this at all. She was afraid of the queen, all the way to her bones, but the forgiveness the queen offered was astounding. Gothel had resigned herself, there was no way to escape death, not in this court, but now hope flared in her heart.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Gothel began to sob uncontrollably.

The queen came around to Gothel and put her arms around the sobbing woman and said, "I know. There, there."

The judge called a recess as the court buzzed as a hive of bees. He could see the royal mid-wife a heavy-set woman was sobbing hard and being comforted by a tall balding gentlemen, the retired Captain of the Guard, her husband. They had testified of what the king and queen had gone through for the birth of the princess.


	16. Chapter 16 The King

- The King Speaks

The judge called the court to order so the king would have his time to testify of what he went through.

"Gothel," began the father, standing before the seated and chained woman. "You do understand that you hurt us terribly."

Gothel nodded, not trusting herself to speak, she was almost as scared of the king as she was of the queen. The whites of her eyes shone plainly to the king and the judge. The queen had forgiven her, but the king could still kill her.

"You are a ward of the crown and have been for some time?" Gothel nodded again. She had arranged that, All her family had died, she was old, the manor had even burned down in an accident. She had lost everything, her only remaining hope was in Jonathan's return. She had placed herself in the care of the crown in her declining years. The royal family have taken good care of her, but they couldn't help the terrible feeling of loss she always carried. She had spent lots of time in the palace at first, learning all of the ways inside it.

She had taken to walking down the coast to her lands to watch for his returning ship. To be alone. When she had seen a flash and heard a song on the wind. She had found the golden flower and thinking to sing the song, sang and the flower glowed and she became young again. She had not returned to the palace, but she had heard that they thought she had thrown herself into the ocean.

"Taking our daughter, was a terrible crime, it hurt in ways I didn't know existed. She is home now as a woman, but she can never be my little girl, because of what you did."

Gothel nodded again. She wanted to bow her head, but the metal collar around her neck made that impossible. She bit her pink lip scared of what would happen next. The kings voice wasn't loud, but it filled the courtroom, yet she could feel he was communicating only with her. The silence in the courtroom was deafening, as every quiet word was strained for. Now she was scared like nothing had scared her before.

"You hurt me. Worse, you hurt my wife and the people of my kingdom. What you did also changed me, in ways I didn't notice. I was hurting myself, my wife and my kingdom."

He took a step towards her. "I want to hurt you, so much. To make you suffer like we had suffered all these years. To hear your screams to offset the weeping of my wife. Did you know she wept herself to sleep, in my arms, every night since you stole our beloved daughter?"

Gothel shook her head. He was right in front of her looking into her eyes, his rich voice caressing her, holding her intimately.

He took another step closer. "My heart broke over and over again, every night, because of those tears. I want you to hurt like we did. I want your screams and your tears. I have a file, that may be the most comprehensive compilation of torture techniques ever collected in the history of the world. I know how to inflict pain on you in ways that could make you suffer for weeks and even months. I can make you scream yourself to voicelessness and you would keep trying to scream. I can break your spirit so deeply that you would never harm anyone ever again. You would crawl on all fours and never even think of looking up again."

"For all the screams and tears I could extract from you and for all that I could break your body, your mind and your spirit. I could even kill you, but I know I couldn't break your heart, like you broke ours. All that research and I still don't know how to actually hurt you. Pity." The father shook his head and shrugged.

She felt her seat warm as she lost control in her fear, she knew in her heart he could do it, he would be right in doing it and he would enjoy it. Tears leaked down her cheeks. Gothel was panting, fear had her insides in an icy grip, the metallic taste of pure fear on her dry tongue.

His eyes bore into her own and there was no way to get away from him, even and she tried to push herself through the seat. He was communicating so intimately with her. She wanted to close her eyes and mind, but he just stood there and kept talking, holding her with his voice. She had only felt like this when Jonathan had been with her, but this terrible intimacy wasn't the intimacy of love, but of hate.

The guards next to the terrified Gothel risked exchanging a glance. They knew it was their duty to protect the prisoner so she could be properly executed, but the thought of restraining the king was a conflict that was tough to overcome. They weren't sure if the king was going to try something, the words were spoken softly, almost gently, but they were so terrifying. They were half expecting the king to lunge and try to kill the prisoner himself in front of the court with his bare hands.

Rapunzel was hugging her thick braid, she knew that her real parents had to express what they had gone through so the court could determine what was the proper response to what happened, but seeing Mother so scared was so disturbing.

To hear the pain her real parents went through was terrible too. She was wishing her hair could heal these things, but her special song could only heal physical injuries, not emotional ones. It was taking everything she had to keep from sobbing as her real mother put her arms around her shaking body. Rapunzel wanted to heal everyone, and not let anyone hurt each other any more, but this was something they needed to do so they could.

The king moved to stand between Gothel and Rapunzel and looked from one to the other.

"I find myself at a crossroads. I could continue hating you with all my heart, and it feels so good to hate you, or I could love my good daughter with all my heart. I can't do both," he shrugged. "If I keep hating you, I would just keep hurting my family and my kingdom, and I don't want that."

He turned to Rapunzel. "I would love my daughter, with my whole heart, and I will not give place in my heart to hate anymore. I love you my daughter." He took the steps to be near his daughter, his hand out to her. Rapunzel's lip was quivering, she was feeling the great love her father had for her, their hands touch over the divider. How could she feel it so deeply?

The king turned to Gothel. "For my daughter's sake, for my kingdom's sake, I give up hate now. As a ward of the crown I would still care for you as if you were my own and I would do that gladly as you took care of my little girl as I would have wanted to myself. I forgive you."

Gothel wanted to cover her face and her tears but the chains restrained her. "Thank you, I'm sorry." Her black curls rustling as her head shook. The emotional overload she was experiencing was exhausting her. She had done a great wrong to this family, but they were not wronging her in return, she didn't deserve this kindness.

As the king sat, the judge came to himself and asked Gothel, "Can you continue?"

Gothel shook her head, breathing hard; tears flowing down her cheeks and neck, into the rough grey cloth of the prison dress she was wearing.

The judge called a recess for the day and waved the guards forward, and they had to all but carry her out for her legs were too weak to carry herself. As she was turned the judge noticed the stained dress and he quietly ordered a set of new clothes to be sent to Gothel's cell. But he was grateful too for the break, the incredible emotional energy the king and queen had brought to the proceedings was challenging to handle.

He could see the observers were slowly getting up as the door closed behind the royal family. He could see a lot of extra white around the eyes of most of the people as they were standing up quietly. No one was talking much, but everyone were moving slowly and shakily.

He went to his chambers and sang for some time to quiet his mind and his heart.


	17. Chapter 17 Verdict

- The Verdict

The judge came out and stood before the court on the step stool that allowed everyone to see him over the judge's bench. The bright colors and feathers of his ceremonial garb bright against the backdrop of the yellow and purple Coronaian banner.

"When I had come to this kingdom to study the laws of your fair land I had no idea I would end up here, to aid this kingdom." He gestured to the courtroom.

"This has been the most emotionally powerful trials I have ever had to preside over. In my home kingdom, I know that the victims would have shown no mercy to the perpetrator of an act as heinous as this. An act like this would have sparked a blood feud to last a thousand generations. The full might of justice would have been brought down on the head of the perpetrator."

"Yet, here, the victims have offered mercy and forgiveness to the perpetrator. An act that I would have considered weak and cowardly not long ago. But that I now know to be an act of such strength and courage, the likes of which I had never known before."

Ota held out his arms, "People of Corona! You have a great king and queen, more then worthy of the great love you have shown them all these years, and you are worthy of them!"

"Still, a crime was committed and justice must be served. A crime of this magnitude would be generally be punished by death by hanging, though this particular crime had a royal decree specifying the punishment the queen would have meted out." He called forth the victims and the perpetrator.

The queen was looking embarrassed hoping the judge wouldn't announce what she had planned on doing, she didn't desire it any more.

Rapunzel was looking worried, she didn't want Mother to die.

Gothel looked resigned to whatever came to her, she knew she deserved anything and everything they would or could mete out to her.

"It is proposed that the perpetrator serve 18 years under house arrest, in the palace, under the care of the king and queen, continuing as a ward of the crown. Is justice served by this?" The judge asked the royal family.

Rapunzel asked, "What's house arrest?"

The judge explained, "She will have to stay in the palace and never leave it for the next 18 years or she will be put to death."

Rapunzel nodded. It would be much like being in the tower, though she would be the one leaving and returning and caring for Mother.

The king and queen exchanged a long look and nodded. Gothel was a ward of their kingdom and they would take care of her and the punishment matched the crime.

"Justice is served by this," intoned the king.

"Is mercy served by this?" The judge asked Gothel.

Gothel was feeling a wonder and amazement in her heart. She didn't know what to do with herself now that she had accepted the Jonathan wasn't coming back. Maybe life was still worth living for its own sake. But eighteen years would give her time to think about it.

"Mercy is more then served by this, thank you," said Gothel.

"Very well. Judgement is made." The gavel rang out.


	18. Chapter 18 Epilogue

- Epilogue

The queen and Gothel are having tea as they are watching Rapunzel and Eugene play in the garden. She is raining acorns down on his head from a branch above him.

"You taught her to read." Said the queen, wondering why.

"Yes, it was something to help keep her occupied and deal with some of her questions. She loves to ask questions," replied Gothel.

"Slave nations consider that a capital offense." The queen remarked.

"I know, but I didn't want a slave. I tried to raise her as my own, so Jonathan wouldn't be disappointed in me." Gothel still got misty-eyed whenever she thought of him.

"You said you wanted to kill me yourself," began Gothel, letting the warm scent of the tea fill her nose, she too was curious about the queen.

"Yes." The queen said slowly, glad she had just put down the teapot. There was no denying what she had said, practically shouting it in front of the court.

"How?" Gothel asked very casually. Then drinking some of the fine tea the queen was serving her.

The queen picks up the teacup and then the saucer, a useful technique so it didn't sound like she was as nervous as she was. Rattling the cup and saucer was too obvious a way to show you were nervous.

"Oh, nothing special, I was just going to drink your blood, all of it, myself." She said offhandedly and took a sip of her tea.

Gothel's eye went big and there was a rattle as she put down her teacup.

Author's Note: The general idea for this story was to find out if it was possible to create a happy ending for all involved as much as possible. As bad as Gothel was in the movie, the more I explored her the less evil she became.

Is she selfish and manipulative? Oh, yes. That makes her bad, but hardly evil. If Gothel was really evil she could have left Rapunzel chained up in the bedroom under the stairs, but she didn't. She let Rapunzel paint on the walls, provided many things for Rapunzel to do, and even taught Rapunzel to read, which is a really big deal.

To keep the movie a manageable size they needed to kill Gothel at the end, but sometimes it feels like it was too much. So this takes the ending in a different direction.


End file.
